Where Prevention Fails, Mitigation Prevails

With an average price of a couple of million dollars per energy project, fire risks that could potentially bring down operations or even a whole project are a serious matter. To ensure the continuous operation, generation, transmission or distribution of energy projects, Ftech offers its unique reliability protection service. “Ftech’s protection systems not only increase the reliability of energy management systems, but also decreases recovery costs in case an incident takes place, and can even reduce the amount of capital losses if a fire breaks out,” says Gustavo Galaz, the company’s Director of Fire, Gas and Energy.

In Mexico, a reactive culture tends to prevail over prevention, whether in infrastructure, healthcare or technology adoption. The same applies to project developers in the energy sector when it comes to safety measures, Galaz explains. “Sometimes companies with big, multimilliondollar projects do not see the added value of even the simplest protection systems,” he says. “Unfortunately, people do not see the need for them until they are truly required.” To overcome this obstacle, Galaz emphasizes to his potential customers the importance of having a fire protection system, which can help avoid crises and ensure that a small incident does not escalate.

Regardless of measures taken, accidents happen, and while it is important to minimize the possibility of them happening, it is equally important to mitigate their effects as much as possible. This goes beyond installing sprinklers or having a fire extinguisher close by. To offer the highest added value to clients, Galaz highlights the importance of working with them from the very beginning of the project, where the consultancy stage starts. “The consultancy phase consists of analyzing the risks, based on Ftech’s and the client’s experience and best practices, to determine areas of greater and lesser risk,” he says. “Based on the results, an engineered solution is proposed and, if the client is satisfied, implemented by the EPC.”

After the consultancy phase, Ftech follows an unbiased vision to ensure that its clients get the best products possible. “There are many solutions in the market that help minimize risks and ensure that incidents do not turn into full-blown crises. Among Ftech’s added values is that we are a technology and brand-neutral company and therefore can offer a tailored solution to our clients,” Galaz says. “This is not very common in a highly specialized field such as fire protection, as most companies tend to specialize their services and the brands they manage.”

Following this vision, Ftech can provide the most innovative and highly engineered solutions in the market that are backed up by 3D simulation software to ensure their functionality before any implementation. Galaz cannot talk about particular clients, but states that many of its installed systems have prevented catastrophes, and this goes directly to the clients’ bottom line. “Risks decrease as a result of the engineered solution, and that in turn lowers related insurance premiums, which is a short-term savings area we emphasize,” he says.

Galaz remains confident that Mexico’s energy industry represents an impressive business development opportunity for Ftech. With broad experience in the market, as well as its ability to adapt to every requirement a company might have, Galaz expects to grow at the same pace investment comes into Mexico while maintaining its market share. “We are just waiting for the projects to become a reality,” he says.